The enactment of e-HRM in a healthcare context: results of a qualitative study at Medisch Spectrum Twente

THE ENACTMENT OF E-HRM IN A HEALTHCARE CONTEXT

Results of a qualitative study at Medisch Spectrum Twente

Supervisors: Dr. T.V. Bondarouk, MSc Dhr. G. J. van der Kolk

Dr. H.J.M Ruël HR Policy Advisor

M.M.J Engbersen

University of Twente

School of Management and Governance

Business Administration, Human Resource Management s0102938

27 May 2010

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P REFACE

This report is the result of research on the subject e-HRM. It is the finishing touch on the study business administration I did at the University of Twente in Enschede. I choose the master track Human Recourse Management because the behaviour of people in organizations always interested me. With e-HRM I was able to combine the human aspect with the growing influence of information technology. This makes it an interesting combination. With this research more insights are gathered on e-HRM and knowledge is expanded.

The context is a healthcare organization in which I worked for several summers. During the last summer I noticed the implementation of e-HRM and the interesting behaviour of people in the organization. I was pleased to see it was possible to do my research within the healthcare organization MST. Looking back at the research I learned a lot about human resource management in practice and the way organizations work. With the master thesis I feel that the knowledge I gathered during my study is put into practice.

More people are involved in the research and this report and I could not have done it without them. I would like to take the opportunity to thank them for their effort.

First I would like to thank my academic supervisors Tanya Bondarouk and Huub Ruël. I especially want to thank Tanya Bondarouk for her effort in this research. She was always very enthusiastic and supportive. Her enthusiasm and knowledge on the subject was an inspiration for me to look further in e-HRM. I have experienced the cooperation as pleasant and motivating.

Secondly I want to thank my supervisor at Medisch Spectrum Twente, Gerrit van der Kolk, for giving me the opportunity to practice the research at MST and by providing information in various ways. I would also like to thank everybody at MST who cooperated with the research through interviews or conversations.

Thirdly I would like to thank family and friends who have been supportive during my master thesis.

Special thanks to my parents who always have been there for me and supported me in everything I did. Further thanks to Thomas who supported me and cheered me up when it was necessary. I received useful feedback from him on my thesis. Also thanks to Tom for thinking along and having a critical look on the report. Further thanks to everybody who was involved.

Moniek Engbersen Enschede, 27 may 2010

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M ANAGEMENT S UMMARY

Electronic Human Resource Management (e-HRM) is a fast developing phenomenon in the HRM field. E-HRM is the (planning, implementation and) application of information technology for both networking and supporting at least two individual or collective actors in their shared performing of HR activities. In this study HRM intranet is the information technology implemented within the HRM department of the healthcare organization MST.

Medisch Spectrum Twente (MST), is a general hospital with core business of taking care of the residents health in the region by offering specialist medical care. The state of knowledge in the literature about HRM and e- HRM in a healthcare context is not sufficient enough. The research problem therefore regards a gap in information about e-HRM in healthcare organizations.

The goal of the research is to advance understanding of the special features of e-HRM implementation in MST.

Furthermore we want to provide insight in what kind of influences e-HRM has on the HRM department and the organization with its HR activities. Therefore the research question is: What are the changes in the HR activities brought about by HRM intranet of MST and in what way do users enact HRM intranet functionalities?

Before starting the empirical part of the research a theoretical framework is developed. The framework created an interesting perspective for researching HRM intranet within MST. The perspective is derived from the structuration theory of Orlikowski (1991). The perspective emphasizes the interaction between the main stakeholders of e-HRM: information technology, human agents and the organizational context. The result is a dynamic movement in which the stakeholders are interacting and influencing each other.

To exercise the perspective within MST we performed an explorative study on HRM intranet. It is a qualitative study in which fifteen semi-structured interviews with HR professionals, line managers and employees form the dominant technique to collect data. Further exploration is done by document review, observations in meetings, casual conversations and the observations on intranet.

The findings show a dynamic movement of HR professionals, line managers and employees with HRM intranet in the healthcare environment. HRM intranet, according to the HRM department, is meant for line managers and the employees to support the HR activities. At MST the usage of HRM intranet is low. The HR professionals and line managers use HRM intranet sporadically for information purposes. The employees make little or no use of HRM intranet. A plausible explanation for the low usage of the employees is that there is no need. We noticed that employees are not involved in HR activities in the way the HRM department expected. When there are HR activities practiced, the process has to go by the line manager who decides the further progress.

Furthermore the employees do not know what to expect from the HRM department and wherefore it can be used. The interaction between the employee and line manager is considered to be sufficient. The contact between the line manager and the HR professional is sufficient as well. Although the line managers and HR professionals feel that contact is sufficient between them, the line managers feel that the HRM department as a whole could achieve more within the organization. The HR professionals in their turn additionally feel that the HRM department can achieve more. With this in sight the professionals are enthusiastic about the increase of policy making. In all the interaction between the different stakeholders, the environment of the interaction is playing a role in the dynamic movement. It is playing a role by supporting subcultures, a ‘wait-and-see’

culture, low commitment to MST as a whole and being a large, complex organization.

The overall conclusion of the research is that there are no changes in the HR activities brought about by HRM intranet within MST and the enactment of e-HRM in healthcare has not succeeded. We conclude that the line managers enact in the way of supporting the HR activities with information. The employees of MST do not use it. The HR professionals use HRM intranet sporadic. Therefore HRM intranet in MST is not enacted as intended by the HRM department.

5 In our research some limitations occurred. At the time of the research HRM intranet was just implemented

which can have consequences for the findings. Furthermore the research population is partly based upon the interpretation of HR professionals and line managers on the research since they choose the participants for the interviews. Building further on the limitation of time we suggest further research with several measurement points so the movement of e-HRM in healthcare can be explored. For the HRM department more research is necessary on the implementation of HRM intranet and on the interaction between employee and HRM department.

We conclude our research with the challenges we found and recommendations for these challenges:

Recommendations derived from the challenges:

Improve the relationship of the HRM department with the employees Involve users in implementing information technology

Expand expertise HRM department Create a joint focus in projects

Structure the implementation of the HR portal Provide clear communication

Measure the usage

With this research we provided an understanding of the special features of e-HRM implementation in MST.

Furthermore an insight is created in what kind of influences e-HRM has on the HRM department and the organization with its HR activities.

Challenges Examples

The employee does not know what to expect from the HRM department.

- The employees do not know what the HRM department is for.

- The location of HRM is not clear to all employees.

- The employees see the HRM department as having an administrative function.

-The HRM department is still called “Personeelszaken” by some people.

The HRM department does not know what the employees want regarding e- HRM.

- The employees are not asked about their opinion on HRM and HRM intranet.

- The users are not involved in the implementation process of HRM intranet.

The position of the HRM department within MST is viewed as weak.

- The department is underdeveloped in their policy making.

- The value of the HRM department is not always acknowledged.

Within MST and projects a joint focus is missing.

- There are subcultures with various powers and forces.

- In the project intranet a lot of different parties are involved with different interests.

- The goals of projects are not for everyone the same.

- The employees have a low commitment to MST.

MST is a large and complex organization.

- MST has 4000 employees and several hierarchical layers.

- The decision making process is slow as approval is needed from different parties.

- Within MST a ‘wait-and-see’ culture dominates.

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M ANAGEMENT S AMENVATTING

Electronic Human Resource Management (e-HRM) is een snel ontwikkelend fenomeen in het HRM-veld. E-HRM is de (planning, uitvoering en) de toepassing van informatietechnologie voor zowel het netwerken als de ondersteuning van ten minste twee individuele of collectieve actoren in hun gedeelde uitvoering van HR- activiteiten. In deze studie is HRM intranet de informatie-technologie die is geïmplementeerd binnen de HRM- afdeling van de gezondheidszorg instelling MST. Medisch Spectrum Twente (MST), is een algemeen ziekenhuis met als core-business het aanbieden van medisch-specialistische zorg aan de bewoners in de regio ter bevordering van de gezondheid. Er is niet genoeg kennis in de literatuur over HRM en e-HRM in deze context. De probleemstelling betreft dus een kloof in informatie over e-HRM in de gezondheidszorg.

Het doel van het onderzoek is om inzicht te krijgen in de specifieke kenmerken van de e-HRM implementatie in MST. Verder willen we inzicht verschaffen in wat voor soort invloeden e-HRM heeft op de HRM-afdeling en de organisatie met haar HR-activiteiten. Daarom is de vraagstelling: Wat zijn de veranderingen in de HR- activiteiten als gevolg van HRM intranet van MST en op welke manier brengen de gebruikers de HRM intranet functionaliteiten ten uitvoer?

Voor het empirische deel van het onderzoek is er een theoretisch kader ontwikkeld. Het kader heeft een interessant perspectief gecreëerd voor het onderzoek naar HRM intranet binnen MST. Het perspectief is afgeleid van de structurerings theorie van Orlikoswki (1991). Het benadrukt de wisselwerking tussen de belangrijkste stakeholders van e-HRM: informatietechnologie, menselijke actoren en de organisatorische context. Het resultaat is een dynamische beweging, met interactie en invloeden tussen de belanghebbenden.

Voor het toepassen van het perspectief binnen MST voerden we een exploratief onderzoek uit naar HRM- intranet. Het is een kwalitatief onderzoek waarin vijftien semi-gestructureerde interviews met HR- professionals, teamhoofden en medewerkers de dominante techniek vormt om gegevens te verzamelen. Verder is onderzoek gedaan door middel van documenten review, observaties bij bijeenkomsten, gesprekken en de observatie van intranet.

De bevindingen tonen een dynamische beweging aan van HR-professionals, teamhoofden en medewerkers met HRM intranet binnen de gezondheidszorg. HRM intranet is volgens de HRM-afdeling bedoeld voor teamhoofden en de medewerkers om HR-activiteiten te ondersteunen. Binnen MST is het gebruik van HRM intranet is niet optimaal. De HR-professionals en teamhoofden gebruiken HRM intranet sporadisch voor het opzoeken van informatie. De medewerkers maken weinig tot geen gebruik maken van HRM-intranet. Een plausibele verklaring voor het geringe gebruik van de medewerkers is dat er geen behoefte is. We hebben gemerkt dat medewerkers niet betrokken zijn bij de HR-activiteiten in de manier waarop de HRM-afdeling verwacht. Als er HR-activiteiten worden uitgeoefend, gaat de medewerker naar het teamhoofd en die beslist de verdere voortgang. Verder weten de medewerkers niet wat ze moeten verwachten van de HRM-afdeling en waarom het gebruikt kan worden. De interactie tussen de medewerker en het teamhoofd wordt voldoende geacht. Het contact tussen het teamhoofd en de HR-professional is ook voldoende. Hoewel de teamhoofden en HR-professionals vinden dat er voldoende contact is tussen hen, zijn de teamhoofden van mening dat de HRM- afdeling als geheel meer zou kunnen bereiken binnen de organisatie. De HR-professionals hebben bovendien ook het gevoel dat de HRM-afdeling meer kan bereiken. Met dit in gedachte zijn de professionals enthousiast over de opkomst van beleidsvorming op de afdeling. In alle interactie tussen de verschillende belanghebbenden speelt de omgeving een rol in de dynamische beweging. Het speelt een rol door het behouden van subculturen, een 'wait-and-see' cultuur en de lage betrokkenheid bij MST als geheel. Daarnaast is het een grote, complexe organisatie.

De conclusie van het onderzoek is dat er geen veranderingen in de HR-activiteiten zijn als gevolg van HRM intranet binnen MST. We concluderen dat de teamhoofden HRM intranet gebruiken voor de ondersteuning van

7 de HR-activiteiten met informatie. De medewerkers van MST gebruiken HRM intranet weinig tot niet. De professionals gebruiken HRM intranet sporadisch. Daarom is e-HRM binnen MST niet uitgevoerd zoals bedoeld is door de HRM afdeling.

In ons onderzoek zijn we een aantal beperkingen tegengekomen. Op het moment van het onderzoek was HRM intranet net geïmplementeerd, wat consequenties kan hebben voor de bevindingen. Daarnaast is de onderzoekspopulatie gedeeltelijk gebaseerd op de interpretatie van HR-professionals en teamhoofden op het onderzoek, omdat zij de deelnemers kozen voor de interviews. Verder bouwend op de beperking van het moment raden we meer onderzoek aan op verschillende punten in de tijd. Op die manier kan de beweging van e-HRM in de gezondheidszorg verder worden verkend. Voor de HRM-afdeling is meer onderzoek nodig naar de uitvoering van HRM-intranet en naar de interactie tussen de medewerker en HRM-afdeling. We sluiten het onderzoek af met de uitdagingen die we hebben gevonden en aanbevelingen voor deze uitdagingen:

Aanbevelingen naar aanleiding van de uitdagingen:

• Verbeter de relatie van de HRM-afdeling met de medewerkers

• Betrek gebruikers bij de implementatie van informatietechnologie

• Breidt de expertise van HRM-afdeling uit

• Creëer een gezamenlijke focus in projecten

• Structureer de implementatie van het HR-portaal

• Zorg voor heldere communicatie

• Meet het gebruik

Met dit onderzoek hebben we een goed inzicht gekregen in de kenmerken van de e-HRM implementatie in MST. Verder is er een inzicht gecreëerd in de invloed die e-HRM heeft op de HRM-afdeling en de organisatie met haar HR-activiteiten.

Uitdagingen Voorbeelden

De medewerker weet niet wat hij of zij moet verwachten van de HRM- afdeling.

-De medewerkers weten niet waar de HRM-afdeling voor is.

- De locatie van HRM is niet duidelijk voor alle medewerkers.

- De medewerkers zien de HRM-afdeling als een administratieve functie.

-De HRM-afdeling wordt nog steeds 'Personeelzaken' genoemd door sommige mensen.

De HRM-afdeling weet niet wat de medewerkers willen met betrekking tot e-HRM.

- De medewerkers zijn niet gevraagd om hun mening over HRM en HRM-intranet.

- De gebruikers zijn niet betrokken bij het implementatieproces van HRM intranet.

De positie van de HRM-afdeling binnen MST wordt gezien als zwak.

- De afdeling loopt achter met beleidsvorming

- De waarde van de HRM-afdeling wordt niet altijd erkend.

Binnen MST en de projecten mist een gezamelijke focus.

- Er zijn subculturen met diverse machten en krachten.

- In het project intranet zijn veel verschillende partijen betrokken met verschillende belangen.

- De doelstellingen van projecten zijn niet voor iedereen hetzelfde.

- De medewerkers hebben een lage betrokkenheid bij MST.

MST is een grote en complexe organisatie.

- MST heeft 4000 medewerkers en verschillende hiërarchische lagen.

- De besluitvorming is traag omdat er goedkeuring nodig is van verschillende partijen.

- Binnen MST heerst er een 'wait-and-see' cultuur.

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‘Tools create a structure to work with but we fall into the trap of not seeing beyond it.’

(Orlikowski, 1992)

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C ONTENT

Preface ... 3

Management Summary... 4

Management Samenvatting ... 6

List of words ... 11

List of figures ... 11

List of tables ... 11

1 Introduction ... 12

1.1 Introduction ... 12

1.2 Research setting and Research problem ... 13

1.3 Research goal and Research question ... 14

1.4 Relevance of the research ... 14

1.5 Outline of the thesis ... 15

2 Theoretical Framework ... 16

2.1 E-HRM: Definitions and Types ... 16

2.2 The Role of Information Technology ... 18

2.3 The Role of Human Agents ... 23

2.4 Organizational Context: Healthcare Organization ... 24

2.5 Towards a Research Model ... 27

3 Research Methodology ... 28

3.1 Case study approach ... 28

3.2 Data Collection and Sampling ... 28

3.2.1 Interviews ... 28

3.2.2 Documents, Observations in Meetings and Intranet scan ... 30

3.3 Data analysis ... 31

4 Findings ... 32

4.1 The role of Information Technology ... 32

4.1.1 The intentions of HRM Intranet ... 32

4.1.2 The enactment of HRM Intranet ... 33

4.1.3 Structuration of HRM Intranet ... 40

4.2 The role of Human Agents with HR activities ... 41

4.2.1 The intentions of Human Agents with HR activities ... 41

4.2.2 The enactment of Human Agents with HR activities ... 42

4.2.3 Structuring Human Agents with HR activities ... 47

4.3 The role of Organizational Context ... 47

4.3.1 The intentions of Healthcare Organization ... 47

4.3.2 The enactment of Healthcare Organization ... 48

4.3.3 Structuring Organizational Context: Healthcare Organization ... 50

4.4 Interaction between IT, Human Agents and the Organizational Context: e-HRM ... 50

5 Discussion ... 53

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5.1 Discussing the theoretical framework ... 53

5.2 Discussing the concepts ... 53

5.2.1 Information Technology ... 53

5.2.2 Human Agents/HR activities ... 54

5.2.3 Organizational Context ... 55

5.3 Limitations ... 56

5.4 Suggestions for further research ... 57

6 Conclusions and recommendations ... 58

6.1 Conclusions ... 58

6.2 Recommendations ... 60

References ... 63

Appendix ... 66

A: Organogram Medisch Spectrum Twente ... 66

B: Interview Protocol ... 67

C: Interview Protocol Dutch Version ... 71

D: Printscreens Intranet ... 75

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L IST OF WORDS

HRM Human Resource Management

E-HRM Electronic Human Resource Management

IT Information Technology

HR practices With HR practices is meant the traditional HR fields like HR planning, Recruitment and Selection, Training and Development, Performance evaluation, Rewarding and Remuneration, Career development, Employer-Employee relations, and Sickness Policies

HR function The organization of the HR practices

HR activities Activities that are carried out to perform HR practices

MST Medisch Spectrum Twente

ECM Enterprise Content Management system

DMS Document Management System

VSZ Vereniging Samenwerkende Ziekenhuizen

L IST OF FIGURES

Figure 2-1 Structurational Model of Technology (Orlikowski, 1991) ... 19

Figure 2-2 Practice Orientation of the Structurational Perspective on Technology (Orlikowski, 2000) ... 21

Figure 2-3 The Research Model ... 27

Figure 4-1 Structuration HRM intranet: Intention vs. Enactment ... 40

Figure 4-2 Structuration Human Agents with HR activities: Intention vs. Enactment ... 47

Figure 4-3 Structuration e-HRM of MST ... 51

L IST OF TABLES

Table 2-2 Types of e-HRM ... 18

Table 3-1 An overview of interviewees... 29

Table 6-1 Table of challenges ... 60

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1 I NTRODUCTION 1.1 I

Electronic Human Resource Management (e-HRM) is a fast developing phenomenon in the HRM field. We noticed that it is a rather broad field where questions are still unanswered or where ideas have no scientific ground. Some of these questions have to deal with the influence of information technology (IT) on the HR function and the consequences that emerge in its relationship. The two main types of integration of IT in HRM are, HRIS and e-HRM.

The first type is the HR Information Systems (HRIS) that is directed at the HR department itself. The focus is on the automation of HR services, like an automated payroll administration. HRIS is mainly focused on reaching administrative efficiency and improving the decision making process (Lengnick-Hall, and Moritz, 2003).

The second type of integration of IT in HRM has a focus on the technological support of information on HR services for the people outside the department, also referred to as electronic Human Resource Management (e-HRM) (Ruël, Bondarouk, and Looise, 2004).

In this study the information technology that is implemented within the HRM department is e-HRM which is the focus of this study. The implementation and application of electronic Human Resource Management (e- HRM) is boosted the last decades by the rapid development of the Internet (Strohmeier, 2007). It is a movement that has grown the last years within the field of Human Resource Management as information technology (IT) has become more important in daily HR practices of organizations (like recruiting and selection). Many studies have revealed that the introduction of e-HRM has influence on employees in organizations and their work processes (Lengnick-Hall, and Moritz, 2003), (Ruël, Bondarouk, and Looise, 2004), (Strohmeier, 2007)). E-HRM is defined as ‘the (planning, implementation and) application of information technology for both networking and supporting at least two individuals or collective actors in their shared performing of HR activities’ (Strohmeier, 2007, p.20).

Our research concerns the implementation of e-HRM within a healthcare organization. There are three main reasons for the choice of a healthcare organization.

Firstly, healthcare organizations are shown to be late adopters of e-HRM due to the complexity of governance, technological, and workforce structures ( (Evers, 2009); (Bondarouk, Ter Horst, & Engbers, 2009)).

With regards to the information-intensity, hospitals are spending less budget on IT than other organization with the same intensity. A reason for this could be that the core business of a hospital is taking care of the health of people. Therefore IT becomes a side issue. A new balance has to be found to deal with technology, as the role of IT is changing within a hospital. It makes a healthcare organization an interesting subject to research.

Secondly, a healthcare organization is a service organization where different kind of groups of people are involved to provide the service of taking care of patients. These groups have particular influences on the processes within the organization and thus upon the adoption of an information system.

Thirdly, a regional (large) hospital with e-HRM implementation volunteered to support the research, allowing exploration on intentions and practice. The hospital provides a good environment to gather opinions and perceptions about e-HRM which contributes to the quality of the research.

In order to advance theoretical understanding of the special features of e-HRM implementation in healthcare;

and provide insights in what kind of influences e-HRM has on the HRM department and the organization with its HR activities, the thesis focuses on the e-HRM implementation within hospitals in the Netherlands.

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1.2 R

R

The hospital, Medisch Spectrum Twente (MST), is a general hospital with its core business of taking care of the residents health in the region by offering specialist medical care. It has about 4000 employees with 200 specialists taking care of 1070 beds. There are five staff departments at MST including the Human Resource Management department (Appendix A). The HRM department of MST is relocated to a remote building in the past. To provide service it keeps a so-called information point inside the main hospital building where employees can ask questions regarding HRM.

By 2012 the hospital has the ambition to implement a unified personnel information system, an HR portal, with an employee self-service (ESS) and a management self-service (MSS). MST already made a small step towards an e-HRM system, by launching the project ‘Enterprise Content Management system’ (ECM) (August 3, 2009).

The ECM project is created for the implementation of intranet “Mijn MST” and a document management system (DMS). Both sub-projects, intranet and a document collection system, have their own project team working on the development of the systems. Besides the leading project teams different groups are involved to realize the ECM project.

The intranet is used to publish diverse information, including HRM information. Till the implementation of intranet, the HRM department of MST used the MST website for HRM purposes. For example, personnel information of different medical and staff departments could and still can be found at http://www.mst.nl/. The information of internet is copied into the MST intranet. The document management system placed under the intranet portal is used for the digital collection of documents like protocols and up-dating them. Furthermore, the system has been developed to publish these documents as a support for the employees and the work processes, assist in quality improvements, and moreover to reduce costs in comparison with the traditional way of spreading protocols within the organization.

When we look for literature to search for information about information technology in relation with HRM, the subject e-HRM comes up. However when we look further to e-HRM in relation with healthcare organizations, not much prior research is found. It seems that not much research is done on e-HRM in healthcare organizations or hospitals. It is understandable as HRM is not the core business of a healthcare organization. Though, research in this area can contribute to knowledge about HR processes in healthcare as well to the implementation of information technology in a hospital. Not alone healthcare in general can benefit with research on e-HRM. In addition MST can benefit from more research in the future since MST is implementing information technology. To better prepare for the introduction of the HR portal at MST, there is a need to explore the working features, needs, consequences, and possible drawbacks of the use of HRM intranet. The literature about e-HRM in healthcare can provide such information and lessons learnt from the exploration will be used in the future implementation of the HR portal. The state of knowledge in the literature about HRM and e-HRM in a healthcare context is not sufficient enough to learn lessons from and to apply those lessons specific within a healthcare organization and within MST. The research problem regards therefore a gap in information about e-HRM in healthcare organizations. The gap needs to be filled with information about the HRM department, how the people in the organization are handling the movement of information technology, e-HRM, and what these changes mean for the HRM department especially in healthcare.

The implementation of e-HRM will learn the organization how their employees are dealing with certain issues and can interact on the skills of the employees in the future with comparable cases. The organization will learn how people need to deal with technology and to find the balance in the hospital between information systems and people. This research represents in addition an extension on the topic e-HRM as it provides insights in e- HRM within healthcare. With the research the gap in research about e-HRM in a healthcare organization is hopefully made somewhat smaller.

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1.3 R

R

Information technology can have a positive influence. However it can have a negative influence when implementation of a system is not thought over. Cooperation between information technology and people is not easy and therefore real thought should be put in this relationship. The information technology within HRM, e-HRM, can support HR processes. When there is not found a right balance it can achieve the opposite. If we want to find out how people in a healthcare organization are handling the implementation of information technology, the influences and changes have to be researched. Within MST the information technology that is implemented and can cause movements in processes and interactions, is HRM intranet. The interactions related to the e-HRM system gives information about the movement of information technology within the HRM department of MST. E-HRM is a relatively new concept. Thus the study is meant to make a contribution on e-HRM by examining how HRM intranet is adopted and how work in the HRM department changes as a consequence. In addition the enactment of HRM intranet by the users becomes clear as the users reveal insights on HRM intranet in practice. The transition towards e-HRM is inevitable but complex since various issues are involved. It is interesting to find out what kind of effect the technology has on the HR tasks and how the users in the organization feel about the change. These aspects are all interrelated on the dynamic of the movement which is the focus of the research.

The goal of the research is to advance understanding of the special features of e-HRM implementation in MST.

In addition we want to provide insight in what kind of influences e-HRM has on the HRM department and the organization with its HR activities. The previous mentioned can be formulated into the following research question:

What are the changes in the HR activities brought about by HRM intranet of MST and in what way do users enact HRM intranet functionalities?

Based upon the research question the research is divided into a theoretical and empirical stage. By exploring MST guided by the research question, more insights are gathered on e-HRM in a healthcare organization.

1.4 R

“IT projects are widely recognized as unstable and contradictory organizational developments that demand a range of technical and social changes” (Bondarouk and Ruël, 2008, p.153). IT interacts with different stakeholders within an organization and is not an autonomous factor. The influence of the internet in all aspects of life is growing and the direction of the growth is changing. The internet is used for communication, home recreation, organizational processes, here in particular the HRM department. The HR processes become more digitalized and that has consequences for the HR staff, HR professionals and the employees. The research investigates what the consequences are and contributes to the social relevance of current developments.

In addition there is the scientific relevance of the developments. This is an innovative, lasting and substantial development in HRM with new phenomena and major changes (Strohmeier, 2007). It is important to gain insight in the different processes and relations. More research will allow the knowledge on the developments to be expanded and used in the implementation of e-HRM. The research contributes to new areas of research with the relevant variables of the developments put in another context. E-HRM in a healthcare organization is such an area. By doing research in a healthcare organization more knowledge is gathered about the implementation of information technology in an HRM department of a hospital. A healthcare organization deals differently with IT than other organizations as healthcare organizations are late adopters of e-HRM due to the complexity of governance, technological, and workforce structures ((Evers, 2009); (Bondarouk, Ter Horst, & Engbers, 2009)). For the organizations it is not their core business and the movement of the employees differs in context. They try to find to right balance in adjusting to organizational change on technology.

15 Due to the complexity of governance, technological, and workforce structures many subcultures are

involved in the implementation of IT. A healthcare organization contains different groups of people providing different services which all have the focus on the patient. This demands a right balance between technology and the employees to make it work in an organization.

In summary, with research in a healthcare organization better predictions can be made about the development of these kinds of organizations and the predictions can be used for acting upon changes in the organization.

Furthermore the knowledge on e-HRM in healthcare organization is extended.

1.5 O

The end product of this study is a report of a qualitative study on e-HRM at Medisch Spectrum Twente that explains the changes in the HR tasks resulting from the implementation of HRM intranet and the way users enact HRM functionalities. The report contains a theoretical perspective and empirical explanation of the e- HRM implementation in MST. The results are insights on the special features of e-HRM implementation in MST.

In addition we provide insights in what kind of influences e-HRM has on the HRM department and the organization with its HR activities.

We structured the report as follows to get a clear representation of the research: The introduction in chapter 1 outlines the nature of the study which is important to understand the research question and the steps that are made in the research.

Before the empirical stage of the research was started a theoretical framework (chapter 2) was made on the literature found on the subject. This phase will serve as base for the research. The focus in the theoretical framework is on the structurational model of Orlikowski (1991) where technology is seen as part of a dynamic model together with human actors and institutional properties. Fitting the model onto e-HRM, the research model is the result which is leading in the empirical part of the research paper.

Prior to the empirical part a method is explained about how the empirical stage of the research is tackled. In this methodology part, which can be found in chapter 3, the choices of method are explained and the data collection method is outlined.

After having done the practical side of the research, analyses are done on the data to gather information about the subject. The results are presented in chapter 4.

Then the findings are discussed to provide a scientific view on the situation taking into account the discussion points that were raised during the research (chapter 5).

The research finishes with an overall conclusion of this qualitative study on e-HRM. Based upon the findings recommendations are translated into a guideline for MST to implement e-HRM further into the organization (chapter 6).

16

2 T HEORETICAL F RAMEWORK 2.1 E-HRM: D

T

There are several perspectives on the influence of information technology in Human Resource Management.

The influence of IT is growing as it becomes more important in daily practices of organizations. Furthermore it is boosted by the rapid development of internet. Information Technology in HRM is used to support HR practices for people outside the HRM department (e-HRM). With HR practices is meant the traditional HR fields like HR planning, Recruitment and Selection, Training and Development, Performance evaluation, Rewarding and Remuneration, Career development, Employer-Employee relations, and Sickness Policies (Van Riemsdijk, Bondarouk, & Knol, 2006).

The concept e-HRM, in full electronic Human Resource Management, is widely used today however it is not an exclusive term. In the literature several synonyms are used: virtual HR(M) (Lepak, and Snell, 1998), HR intranet, web-based HR, computer-based HRM systems, e-HR (Lengnick-Hall, and Moritz, 2003) and HR portals (Ruël, Bondarouk, and Looise, 2004). The term e-HRM will be used during the research paper. But what is e-HRM? In literature the following can be found:

‘It is a network-based structure built on partnerships and typically mediated by information technologies to help the organization acquire, develop, and deploy intellectual capital’ (Lepak, and Snell, 1998,p.216).

‘Conducting business transactions by using the internet (…) along with other technologies for the delivery of human resource services’ (Lengnick-Hall, and Moritz, 2003, p.365).

‘E-HRM is a way of implementing HR strategies, policies, and practices in organizations through a conscious and directed support of and/or with the full use of web-technology-based channels’ (Ruël, Bondarouk, and Looise, 2004, p.16).

These definitions display the variables that are involved in the concept e-HRM. However these definitions do not represent all the involved stakeholders in e-HRM to make it a complete definition. To explain e-HRM and understand the big picture all the involved stakeholders should be represented in the definition. A recent definition of Strohmeier (2007) explains how organizations see e-HRM nowadays. This definition therefore represents the one used in this study:

This definition describes the position of e-HRM in the organization and most important stakeholders that are involved well: information technology, human agents, and the organizational context in which the activities are performed. Together they form the movement of e-HRM.

Why do organizations decide to use the approach of e-HRM? Different authors have discussed the goals that are fundamental to the use of IT in HRM. In general it can be seen as a result of the pressure on the HRM department as organizations try to achieve a competitive advantage (Lepak, and Snell, 1998). Lepak and Snell (1998) who looked at it in more detail, refer to the four pressures of e-HRM.

The first pressure is the pressure of focusing on strategic questions by the HRM department. The second pressure is the need for the HRM department to become flexible in terms of policy making and

‘E-HRM is the (planning, implementation and) application of information technology for both networking and supporting at least two individual or collective actors in their shared performing of HR activities’ (Strohmeier 2007, p.20).

17 practices. Third is the pressure of cost as the department should work more efficiently and reduce costs. The

last pressure is the focus on improving service delivery towards management and employees.

More authors describe the goals and these pressures in various ways. Three main pressures for e-HRM are returning in the literature which corresponds with three types of goals mentioned by Ruël, Bondarouk and Looise (2004).

The first goal is focused on improving the strategic orientation of HRM. The role of HRM is pushed towards a role of a strategic partner that can add value to the organization (Lawler III, & Morhman, 2003). The second goal can be defined as means to achieve cost reduction and efficiency gains. The time consumed by a process can be reduced and paperwork can be avoided by the use of technology (Lengnick-Hall, and Moritz, 2003). The third goal is to improve client service and facilitate management and employees. To provide service to managers and employees is still seen as the predominant role of the HR function (Lepak, and Snell, 1998).

Ruël, Bondarouk and Looise (2004) add a fourth goal to incorporate the globalization of organizations. E-HRM can be used to globalize the organization with the associated HR policies and practices.

The consultancy firm Watson Wyatt Worldwide conducts an annual study in the United States where the results in 2002 are in line with the first three objectives mentioned above. The results show that companies invest in e-HRM for improving the strategic role, reducing administrative HR work and improving employees’

satisfaction with HRM services. Summarizing the pressures and goals of e-HRM we created table 1:

Pressures e-HRM Goals e-HRM

Focus on strategic question by the HRM department.

Improving strategic orientation of HRM.

Becoming flexible in terms of policy making and practices as HRM department.

To achieve cost reduction and efficiency gains.

The HRM department should work more efficiently and reduce cost.

Client service improvement and facilitating management and employees.

Improving service delivery towards management and employees.

To globalize the organization with the associated HR policies and practices.

Table 2-1 Pressures and goals of e-HRM

If different objectives are underlying the use of e-HRM different types of e-HRM seem inevitable. According to Lengnick et al. (2003) e-HRM has developed through three major stages: information, automation and transformation. These stages are quite similar to the distinction made by Wright and Dyer (2003);

transactional, traditional and transformation HRM. These stages can be matched to the three forms of Lepak and Snell (1998), namely operational, relational and transformational HRM.

Information, the first stage of Lengnick et al. (2003) concerns the publishing of information, where intranets are the medium for primary information delivery. As a form of one-way communication the organization publishes information. The information is published in generic content and following, with a personalized content on intranet. This form is mainly operational (Lepak and Snell, 1998) as it concerns the basic HR activities in the administrative area (Ruël, Bondarouk, and Looise, 2004). The benefits of this are the elimination of expensive printing costs, easier access to information and changes that are quickly made.

The second stage involves the automation of processes. Automation involves transactions, workflow and also supply chain integration. It is more elaborated than the information form. Automation uses extranets, different application programs and electronics. The automation process can be matched to a relational/tactical level (Lepak and Snell, 1998). It is where the focus is on supporting the HR practices like recruiting or performance management, and not on administrative processes (Lepak and Snell, 1998).

18 Transformation, the last stage that Lengnick et al. (2003) distinguish, is the highest level. More

specifically it involves the transformation of the HR function (Lepak and Snell, 1998). The focus moves from operational towards a more strategic one. It creates the opportunity for the HR function to partake in the intellectual capital, social capital and the flow of knowledge. In the end the whole movement is for the HR function an opportunity to improve service delivery. An organization is influenced by several factors, like accessibility and number of HR professionals and IT specialists. Which type of e-HRM to implement in the organization depends on these factors. When implementing one of these forms it is important to convince decision makers that benefits are greater than costs. Reasons are e-HRM is time-consuming and expensive for most organizations (Lengnick-Hall, M.L., and Moritz, S., 2003). We created table 2 to summarize the types of e- HRM.

Lepak and Snell (1998) Lengnick et al. (2003)

Operational Information

Relational Automation

Transformational Transformation Table 2-2 Types of e-HRM

Building further on what is described above, important to stress are the main stakeholders of e-HRM:

Information Technology, Human Agents, and the Organizational Context. These stakeholders are the building blocks for the research model in this study. After we gave a definition, the goals and different types of e-HRM were identified. In summary the main goals of e-HRM are strategic orientation, cost reduction and efficiency gains, and client service improvement. Related are the types of e-HRM where information, automation, and transformation are linked to operational, relational, and transformational HRM. Anticipating on these goals and types it allows an analysis of the reason of movements of e-HRM within an organization. In addition, it enables better analysis of the expectations towards the human agents in the organizational context. This knowledge allows changes related to e-HRM to be detected. In exploration of the changes the enactment of e-HRM in the organization becomes clear when human agents describe the interaction with IT. The value of e-HRM in the organization can be determined so “the goals that drive parties, stakeholders, and individuals will set a framework for the real e-HRM applications and approaches to be implemented” (Ruël, Bondarouk, and Looise, 2004).

In the following paragraphs we will elaborate further on the main stakeholders of e-HRM: Information Technology, Human Agents, and the Organizational Context. These stakeholders are the building blocks for the research model in this study.

2.2 T

R

I

T

Within e-HRM IT is used to support HR practices for people outside the HRM department. In this paragraph we consider the role of information technology and bring a perspective using different literature on information technology.

Employees in an organization use IT as a tool to perform their tasks (Bouwman, Den Hooff, van den., Wijngaert,van de., en Dijk, van., 2005). The way technology is implemented, used and accepted depends on several factors. In order to describe the use and acceptance of information technology in an organization different stakeholders and the interaction between these stakeholders are important. The interactions between the stakeholders of e-HRM determine the position of the stakeholders. Thus it is important to research the stakeholders and their relationship to get a complete representation of the movement e-HRM. To understand this better we will first discuss the structuration of information technology.

19 We first discuss the structuration theory. This theory has a focus on the actual interaction between the

stakeholders in an organization. The theory will allow us to explore the influence of information technology in an organization. The approach is based on the concept of structuration framed by Giddens (1979, 1984).

Structuration is seen as a ‘social process that involves the reciprocal interaction of human actors and structural features of organizations’ (Orlikowski, 1992). Giddens proposes the duality of structure, which means that structures can be both the medium and the outcome of the interaction. Duality explains the social phenomena.

It refers to the role of human actions and also involves the effects of institutional properties. The term

‘structure’ is actually abstract since it depends on the situation and the context it is in. Giddens (1979, 1984) did not apply his theory to information technology. For that reason no match is made between structures and technologies.

Where Giddens stops applying his theory on different levels, Orlikowski (1991) continues with the concept of structuring technology. This structural model of technology includes objective and subjective characteristics of IT applications. The context in which these characteristics are shaped is presented (Bouwman, Den Hooff, van den., Wijngaert,van de., en Dijk, van., 2005). The concept of Orlikowski (1991) has two principles: duality of technology and interpretive flexibility of technology.

The first principle is the duality of technology. Technology is a product of human action and also an instrument for humans to accomplish their tasks. On the one hand the technology has a subjective side as it is a product of human action constructed in a given social context. On the other hand the technology becomes institutionalized and forms an objective structural property of the organization.

The second principle of the model is the interpretive flexibility of technology. It means that the interaction between technology and the organization is dependent. The interaction depends on the different actors, the characteristics of the instruments and the characteristics of the context implemented in its development and use. The different parties that are involved cannot be seen as an autonomous factor. They are influenced by each other and therefore should be considered together in the process of implementing technology.

In figure 2-1 is the model of Orlikowski (1991). We observe that institutional properties, technology, and human agents interact with each other in a certain context and can be considered as a dynamic movement.

Figure 2-1 Structurational Model of Technology (Orlikowski, 1991)

20 The arrows represent the four key influences in the interaction between technology and organizations.

Arrow ‘a’ represents that IT is the outcome of human action, as it is developed and being used by humans.

Arrow ‘b’ represents that IT is also the means of other human action. Either to facilitate computer- mediated work or communication through the provision of interpretive schemes, facilities and norms.

Arrow ‘c’ represents that IT is built and used within a social context that gives conditions of interaction with information technology is visualized by arrow c.

Arrow ‘d’ represents the influence of the interaction of IT on the social context in which it is built and used.

The interaction of technology towards human agents (arrow ‘b’) facilitates (as mentioned) and at the same time constrains human action. It is done by providing three elements: interpretive schemes, facilities, and norms.

These three elements are based on the three fundamental elements of social interaction: meaning, power, and norms, which are highly interdependent (Giddens, 1976). Orlikowski (1991) explains it some more:

The first element is meaning. Meaning is created by the presence of interpretive schemes or stock of knowledge. This element thus achieves meaningful interaction. The human agents create meaning by interpretive schemes while communicating. In contrast the institutional properties define this interaction by providing organizational rules representing organizational structures of signification. It means that there are social rules that enable and constrain the communication process. So the result of interpretive schemes is meaning for the human agents and structure of signification for the social context.

The second element is facilities also called power. Facilities allow human agents to realize their intentions and accomplish their goals when power is exercised. Power enters human interaction through providing resources for the human agents to realize outcomes. The social context is influenced by developing organizational structures of domination. It means that all social systems have an asymmetry of authoritative and allocative resources. The existing structure of domination can only be modified when the asymmetry of resources is being challenged. So with resources human agents create power and the social context create a structure of domination.

The last element, norms, provides organizational conventions or rules for human agents to work with. As human agents interact with each other there is a continuous use of normative sanctions which is expressed through the cultural norms. The cultural norms play an active role in shaping the notions of legitimate behavior. The norms also establish organizational structures of legitimation in a social context. It gives a moral order by rituals, socialization practices, and tradition. So norms create a moral sanction for the human agents and at the same time provide a structure of legitimation in the social context.

These elements together provide an interaction between the parties within the structurational model. The model makes clear that the stakeholders are not autonomous. They interact with each other and have influence on each other. The model is describing the interaction between the social actors and institutional properties that are dynamic. Thus the dynamic movement appears at multiple levels of analysis. The special feature about the theory is that it is a meta-theory what means that it is not about testing a specific phenomena; it is a way of thinking and can provide valuable insights when reflected on the subject e-HRM.

The structurational perspective on technology of Orlikowski (1991) was enhanced by a practice-oriented approach of the interaction between people, technology and social action (Orlikowski, 2000). This practice orientation suggests that social systems expose structures that are produced and reproduced through the interaction of human agents, rather than having the constraints of shared abstractions of social structure

21 beforehand. It does not exclude the influence of prior human action in the structural properties. Instead there

is a recreation of the structural properties by the attitude of the individuals. In the practice-orientation the interpretive schemes, facilities, and norms are returning to support the enactment of technologies-in-practice.

The practical view on the structurational perspective is shown below.

Figure 2-2 Practice Orientation of the Structurational Perspective on Technology (Orlikowski, 2000) The practice orientation emphasizes that the interaction and people behave different with the technology in different contexts and practices. In addition the relationship between the stakeholders emerges during the interaction and is not restricted by social structures beforehand. A structurational perspective is dynamic and based on ongoing human action. It has the potential to clarify emergence and change in technologies. The practice orientation allows the perspective to respond on interactions and better explain emergence and change in both technology and their use (Orlikowski, 2000).

The change in technology and use has implications for the development of the organization. The degree depends on the organizational context, intentions and actions of human agents, and on the adaption and use of the technology (Orlikowski, 1993). A useful classification here is the incremental and radical types of innovation (Dewar, and Dutton, 1986). If an organizational change is a fundamental change revolutionary in technology, products, practices, relationships, skills, and norms it is called a radical innovation. There is no step-by-step adjustment when implementing such a change. The organization decides to implement a change as a whole. In contrast, incremental innovations are made with minor improvements or simple adjustments.

These improvements are often in current technology, products, practices, relationships, skills, and norms (Dewar, and Dutton, 1986), (Orlikowski , 1993).

We are going to look in depth at changes in an organization. One important technological development is the shared information technology. A shared information technology system, like intranet, is one of the technological possibilities to implement in an organization. Two organizational elements seem relevant for the utilization of a shared information technology:

22 The cognition of people about technology and their work.

The structural properties of the organization which are the policies, norms, and reward systems (Orlikowski, 1992).

The cognitive elements are frames that individuals have and also share with others about the organization, work, and technology. If a new technology is implemented the individual tries to understand it in terms of the existing frames to accommodate to the special aspects of technology. This happens in particular when incremental changes occur. However in case of a radical change the individual will need to modify their frames significantly. How individuals react and adjust their frames in response to a new technology is varying. It is influenced by two factors:

Amount of product information communicated: more and good communication has a positive influence on the understanding of the technology. Consequently the development of the frames of the individuals is positively influenced.

The type and amount of training received on the product: when more and helpful training is available the individuals have a better understanding of the technology. They can adjust their frames to accept the change of technology (Orlikowski, 1992).

An adjustment of the frames is achieved more likely with incremental change than radical change. The elements are more related to small steps in innovation than radical change. The other element that seems relevant for the utilization of information technology, the structural element, contains the reward systems, policies, work practices and norms. These systems influence and are influenced by the everyday actions of organizational members. All organizational elements together interact with the organizational introduction of information technology and will have implications for the adaption, understanding and use of the technology.

Underlying the actual adaption, understanding and use of the technology, there is the acceptance of technology that is a positive factor of influence. The user acceptance can influence the actual behavior of the users of the technology (Davis, 1989). Perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use are fundamental determinants for the user acceptance (Legris, Ingham, and Collerette, 2003) (Davis, 1989). Perceived usefulness is defined as the degree to which a person believes that using a particular system would enhance his or her job performance (Davis, 1989). The usefulness can be related to a number of dimensions. Dimensions like usefulness for job effectiveness and job efficiency, in addition usefulness for the job as a whole (Bouwman, Den Hooff, van den., Wijngaert,van de., en Dijk, van., 2005). Perceived ease of use means the degree to which the person believes that using a particular system would be free of effort (Davis, 1989). Integrated in the ease of use is the physical and mental effort to use it. Also integrated is the ease of learning to use the system (Bouwman, Den Hooff, van den., Wijngaert,van de. en Dijk van., 2005). With the user acceptance the adaption and use of the technology can be estimated within the organization. Furthermore it can help with the implementation process of the technology.

An important note should be made about the development of the implementation process. The adaption of organizational change with the implementation of technology is not a process that is everywhere the same. It depends on several factors in context, and is not as gradual and continuous as may appear. The process is rather discontinuous, looking at the adaption that dramatically drops after an initial burst of intensive activity.

So the adaption process occurs in bursts and stops (Tyre, and Orlikowski, 1994). The dynamic movement, represented by the structurational model of Orlikowski (1991), is important and should be considered in an organization. The approach provides insights in the dynamic movement and the interactions between the institutional properties, technology and the human agents in the organizational context.

So far, the relation between the human agents, technology and institutional properties has been discussed along with the related characteristics of information technology. To emphasize the dynamic movement

23 between these different stakeholders in an organization, the structurational perspective of Orlikowski (1991)

was used. With this perspective the dynamic movement of the stakeholders becomes visible and can be placed in the organizational context. This perspective has two principles, the duality of technology and the interpretive flexibility of technology. These principles show that there is interaction between the stakeholders and are interdependent when influencing each other. Being aware of the model of interrelation is useful in the research. It provides an open mind for the case study. Further the change and use of the information technology has implications for the development of the organization. When implementing information technology in incremental ways it gives the possibility to individuals to mutual adjust to the change. This process is not continuous. The adaption process determines the acceptance and use of the technology thus the adaption process should not be overlooked when researching the implementation of information technology.

The behavior of the individual plays a role in the acceptance and adaption of the technology. In addition the behavior is important in the interaction between the stakeholders which determines the role of information technology in the organization.

2.3 T

R

H

A

The model of Orlikowski (1991) involves the human agents who are present in the organization as representative of the HRM department and as a user of the technology. According to Ruta (2005) the technical installation challenges can be great. He emphasizes the organization has to be aware not to overlook the human challenges associated with change during the implementation phase of an HR portal. An HR portal is often referred to as the same phenomenon as e-HRM. Ruta (2005) however sees an HR portal as a mean to achieve e-HRM. The portal is seen as an application often located on organization intranet system. The human challenges in IT projects, like an HR portal, refer mostly to the individual user aspects of IT (Bondarouk, 2004).

The individual user aspects should be included to research the enactment of e-HRM by its users. The letter ‘e’

in e-HRM is not just a technical one but the way of thinking of the user (Ruël, Bondarouk, and Looise, 2004).

Users of e-HRM have to adjust to the changes of the HR function by changing their mindset and accept the changes.

An HRM department exists of different groups of people with different tasks. Individual user aspects are different which means that different scenario’s with e-HRM can be depicted.

The HR staff takes care of the information and administration on operational level. The HR professionals take care of the HR practices on relational level. And the HR management has an important job on transformational HRM level. The influence of information technology allows people outside the HRM department to play a more important role in HRM than they did before. Line managers and employees are examples of people outside the HRM department. E-HRM has consequences for the HRM department if line management and employees are put in a more active role in implementing HRM strategies, policies, and practices. The demand of HR professionals will be less if line management and employees pick-up and use the HRM instruments. Although the experience of the professionals is still needed the HR tasks will be achieved with a smaller workforce (Ruël, Bondarouk, and Looise, 2004). It is shown by a research done by Watson and Wyatt involving 649 companies of different sizes. People that are immediately affected are the administrative HRM workers. Their daily processes are being changed by the influence of IT.

IT has consequences for the face-to-face contact that HRM workers have with the employees in the organization (Ruël, Bondarouk, and Looise, 2004). The face-to-face interactions are being replaced with computer-based information when implementing intranet (Ruta, 2005). This can influence the trust and confidence of the employees (Francis, and Keegan, 2006). On strategic level, where transformation of the HR function takes place, the information technology is more important in the skills of the HRM professionals. The routine tasks take less time. It creates an opportunity for the HR professional to perform tasks on strategic level and to become a strategic partner (Brockbank, 1999; Ulrich 1997). The gradual shift has implications for the